<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>This Summer by unspeakable3</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22408600">This Summer</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/unspeakable3/pseuds/unspeakable3'>unspeakable3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>welcome to the most noble and ancient house of black [93]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Black Family Drama (Harry Potter), Black Family-centric (Harry Potter), F/M, Minor Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, POV Andromeda Black Tonks, POV Narcissa Black Malfoy, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Prompt Posse, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 13:15:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22408600</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/unspeakable3/pseuds/unspeakable3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Sod that. I’ll be your family. I love you.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andromeda Black Tonks/Ted Tonks, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy &amp; Andromeda Black Tonks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>welcome to the most noble and ancient house of black [93]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1395592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>This Summer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Narcissa sat very still, perched on the end of her bed with her hands clasped tightly together in her lap. Lucius had snapped at her for being too fidgety and putting him off his incredibly important Potions essay so she had sought refuge in her dormitory, but that wasn’t why she was feeling so nervous.</p><p class="p1">Her eyes darted towards the door. Perhaps she should just go and talk to her about it? It was probably nothing. Just the usual Hogwarts gossip-mongering.</p><p class="p1">But what if it <em>wasn’t</em>?</p><p class="p1">Narcissa stood with a sudden, jerky movement and took a large gulp from the goblet of water on her bedside table. Her mouth felt awfully dry. Perhaps she should write to Mother for some advice; perhaps she had encountered the same problems with her own sister and would know how best to proceed. Perhaps she should write to Bella, so she could tell Rodolphus and he could warn Rabastan?</p><p class="p1">But what if it was all a load of old tosh and she ended up getting everyone all ruffled over nothing? Romy would <em>hate </em>her.</p><p class="p1">Narcissa paced up and down the dormitory, her heels clacking against the stone floor, still gripping the goblet firmly in her hand. The waters of the Great Lake were lapping against the thick-paned windows that lined the dormitory walls but she didn’t find the noise as soothing as she usually did. Her eyes were drawn to the door again.</p><p class="p1">She couldn’t <em>stand </em>this. She blinked rapidly. <em>Right</em>.</p><p class="p1">She hurried out of the room and up the corridor to the seventh-year girls’ dormitory and opened the door before she could talk herself out of it again.</p><p class="p1">“Cissa?” said Andromeda, raising her head at the noise. “Is everything alright?”</p><p class="p1">“Yes. Of course. No. I mean, I hope so…” she babbled, feeling rather foolish. “May I come in?”</p><p class="p1">“I think you already have. Why are you spilling water all over my floor?”</p><p class="p1">Narcissa looked down. “Oh.”</p><p class="p1">She hadn’t realised she was still holding the goblet. Giving a silly little giggle, she withdrew her wand, banished the goblet back to her own dormitory and cleared up the water.</p><p class="p1">Andromeda narrowed her eyes. “Was there something you wanted, or…?”</p><p class="p1">She gestured with her quill to the rolls of parchment surrounding her on the bed, all filled with extraordinarily neat handwriting. Andromeda had always had the most beautiful handwriting, something Narcissa had coveted for as long as she could remember.</p><p class="p1">“Yes,” Narcissa said. “You see, the thing is—”</p><p class="p1">“Oh, do sit down and spit it out, Cissa.”</p><p class="p1">“Right. Yes,” she took a calming breath and sat at the edge of Andromeda’s bed, crossing her ankles and smoothing her skirt over her knees. “There have been some… rumours. Circling around. About… you. And… some chap from Hufflepuff?”</p><p class="p1">“I see,” Andromeda said, twisting her quill in her fingers. “And what might these rumours consist of?”</p><p class="p1">Narcissa glanced behind her, making sure no other girl had entered the dormitory without her noticing, and lowered her voice. “Well, Nella said that she overheard someone saying they’ve seen you sneaking around the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room quite a few times.”</p><p class="p1">Andromeda stared at her.</p><p class="p1">“I told her,” Narcissa continued. “Blacks don’t <em>sneak</em>. But she was rather insistent, and—”</p><p class="p1">“I don’t suppose either of you stopped to think about where the Hufflepuff common room is located?”</p><p class="p1">Narcissa looked blankly at her sister; she had never been down to the Hufflepuff common room (why would she?) so how was she supposed to know where it was?</p><p class="p1">Andromeda sighed. “Next to the <em>kitchens</em>.”</p><p class="p1">“I’m afraid I don’t follow…?”</p><p class="p1">“I didn’t want to tell you,” Andromeda said, quite coldly, as she set her quill aside. “Because I knew you would disapprove. But revision for these NEWT examinations is proving extremely difficult and I have found myself stress-eating from time to time.”</p><p class="p1">“Oh <em>Romy,</em>” Narcissa gasped, her hand on her heart. “You <em>mustn’t</em>! There won’t be time before school finishing and the Season starting to alter all your dress robes! You must let me help you study; Lucius says I am an <em>excellent </em>revision aide.”</p><p class="p1">“I’m sure he does,” Andromeda replied dryly.</p><p class="p1">“You know, Romy, I just <em>knew </em>that Bertha Jorkins was a wretched girl. I had to take points off her just last week - I <em>told </em>her you would never do such a thing because Mother and Father and Bella have all worked <em>so </em>hard to set up this arrangement with the Lestranges.”</p><p class="p1">“Excuse me?”</p><p class="p1">“Bertha Jorkins, you know, year below me in Hufflepuff? Terrible hair, no manners. Apparently, her father is a <em>muggle </em>and drives a bus or something dreadful like that. Anyway, she’s always lurking around the greenhouses trying to catch people… <em>you know</em>—”</p><p class="p1">Andromeda knew.</p><p class="p1">“—and she said she saw you, <em>you know</em>, with someone or other. But as I say, I told her you would never do such a thing.”</p><p class="p1">“Of course not.”</p><p class="p1">“And you’re practically betrothed to Rabastan, anyway.”</p><p class="p1">“Yes.”</p><p class="p1">Andromeda had gone very stiff. Narcissa blinked. She felt awfully cold all of a sudden.</p><p class="p1">“Romy…” she said uncertainly. “You <em>wouldn’t</em>… would you?”</p><p class="p1">“No, Cissa. Don’t be silly. It’s just all this stress about exams.”</p><p class="p1">“Yes. Of course.”</p><p class="p1">Narcissa twisted her hands in her lap and fiddled with their grandmother’s ring on her right hand. She glanced across at Andromeda; her sister had picked up her quill to resume her studying. A little line had formed between her perfectly arched brows and Narcissa had to fight the urge to smooth it out. Andromeda would get a wrinkle there if she wasn’t careful.</p><p class="p1">“Well,” she said, standing up. “I suppose that’s the end of that. I’ll see you at dinner, Romy?”</p><p class="p1">“Yes, Cissa. See you at dinner.”</p><p class="p1">Narcissa returned to the common room with a lighter heart than when she had left. Lucius was still sat at the table where she had left him, head still bent over his Potions essay; she draped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his.</p><p class="p1">“You appear less fraught,” he said.</p><p class="p1">“Yes,” she sighed. “You were right. I was getting all worried over nothing, as usual.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">—</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">As soon as Narcissa closed the dormitory door behind her, Andromeda flung her quill and parchment aside. She brought her knees up to her chest, upsetting the little piles of revision notes and essays that had been so neatly stacked around her, wrapped her arms around her legs and bowed her head.</p><p class="p1">Her heart was thundering in her chest, in her head, and her stomach was churning like a whirlpool. They’d been seen - bloody Bertha big-mouth Jorkins had seen them - they were a point of gossip, the rumours had reached Narcissa… and what if she told Mother? What if she told <em>Bellatrix</em>?</p><p class="p1">Andromeda took deep, gulping breaths, trying to centre herself. Ted would know what to do - but she couldn’t see him. She couldn’t risk it. Narcissa would be on alert, now, and no doubt she would set Lucius and Nella on the case too. If Andromeda was seen anywhere <em>near </em>Ted, anywhere near <em>any </em>Hufflepuff, they would be in danger.</p><p class="p1">No, she would have to keep her distance. It would be difficult (<em>impossible</em>) but she had to do it, for him.</p><p class="p1">At dinner, she sat with her back to the Hufflepuff table but she could practically feel his gaze burning into her back. She could imagine him sat there, smiling and joking with his friends. How lucky they were to be able to sit next to him without fear, to talk to him without having to fake a detention or riddle a broom cupboard with protective enchantments. How lucky they were to be free to love whomever they loved.</p><p class="p1">She walked right past his bench in Herbology the next morning and chose a spot as far away from his as she could. She kept her head bowed, refused to meet his gaze.</p><p class="p1">Afterwards, she avoided the grounds, despite the brilliant sunshine, and made her way back to the Slytherin common room and the sanctuary of her dormitory, the one place she knew he would never be able to find her.</p><p class="p1">He cornered her on the way to the library the next morning. He seized her elbow, wrapped his strong fingers around her upper arm, and pulled her into a shadowy alcove.</p><p class="p1">“A more mistrustful man might think you were ignoring me, Andromeda Black.”</p><p class="p1">She felt dizzy, and sick, and couldn’t decide if she wanted to run away from him or kiss him.</p><p class="p1">He cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows drawn together in concern. “‘Dromeda? Has something happened?”</p><p class="p1">She swallowed and glanced about them, looking for an excuse, but the corridor was deserted. She shook her head.</p><p class="p1">“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice low and smooth like hot butterbeer.</p><p class="p1">Andromeda looked up at him, at his warm brown eyes, surrounded by a forest of tawny eyelashes, at that little freckle below his left eyebrow that she loved to press soft kisses to. She missed him. It had been barely a day, barely <em>one day</em>, and she missed him like they’d been apart for a year.</p><p class="p1">“They know,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.</p><p class="p1">He frowned, his hand sliding up her arm. “Who?” he said urgently.</p><p class="p1">“Cissa, everyone, I don’t know!”</p><p class="p1">“It’s alright,” he said, rubbing her arm. “Remember to breathe.”</p><p class="p1">She nodded, gulping in the air as her hands fiddled with her necklace. The necklace he had given her last Christmas, that opened up at her touch alone to reveal a rare photograph of the two of them. It was a strange, still photograph, a muggle one, that Ted had taken with a special timer as they hid behind a corner at one of Professor Slughorn’s parties. She clutched it, as though it held her lifeblood.</p><p class="p1">And she told him everything. How Narcissa had sought her out to ask about the rumours, how someone had seen her outside the Hufflepuff common room, how Bertha Jorkins had seen her outside the greenhouses. How it was all going terribly, horribly wrong.</p><p class="p1">“I don’t like lying to her, Ted,” she sniffed. “She’s my little sister.”</p><p class="p1">“I know,” he said softly, his hand cupping the back of her head. “It’s not fair. I wish it didn’t have to be like this.”</p><p class="p1">“You’re better than the whole lot of them. I wish they could know you, like I know you.”</p><p class="p1">He pulled her close, one hand on her back and the other buried in her curls, and kissed the top of her head. She closed her eyes; he felt like home.</p><p class="p1">“Forget about them,” he murmured. “Come back to my dormitory. Forget about it all.”</p><p class="p1">“I can’t, Ted. You know I can’t,” she said, her voice muffled against his shoulder.</p><p class="p1">“I’ll smuggle you in.”</p><p class="p1">“Someone will see.”</p><p class="p1">“I’ll disillusion you.”</p><p class="p1">“And what about your dorm mates?”</p><p class="p1">“I don’t care,” he shrugged. “I’ll lock the door. They won’t be able to get in and you won’t be able to get out and we’ll stay there all night. Hell, we'll stay there <em>forever</em>, just you and me.”</p><p class="p1">It sounded delightful. She could think of nothing she would rather do than lock herself away with Ted for the rest of their lives. But they couldn't. </p><p class="p1">“Ted…” she sighed.</p><p class="p1">“I love you, ‘Dromeda.”</p><p class="p1">She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up at him, this beautiful, brave man. He was kind, clever, strong, funny, gentle, everything she could have possibly wanted. But he was smiling that silly, beautiful smile and he was so naive. He didn’t understand. He <em>couldn’t </em>understand. Her family, if they ever found out about him, would stop at nothing to separate them. Nothing.</p><p class="p1">“Sod them,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “Sod Narcissa, sod Bellatrix, sod the lot of them. Let’s run away. Let’s leave Hogwarts. Let’s do it, ‘Dromeda. Forget everything else. You and me against the world.”</p><p class="p1">Andromeda blinked back tears as she clutched his robes. “Ted, I can’t, the Lestranges—”</p><p class="p1">“Sod the Lestranges as well. I’ll stop that berk from marrying you if it’s the last thing I do.”</p><p class="p1">“But my family—”</p><p class="p1">“Sod that. I’ll be your family. I love you.”</p><p class="p1">“They’ll find us.”</p><p class="p1">“I don’t care.”</p><p class="p1">“They’ll hurt you.”</p><p class="p1">“I don’t care.”</p><p class="p1">He was grinning now, her beautiful naive Ted.</p><p class="p1">“They’ll hurt <em>me</em>,” she insisted.</p><p class="p1">“I won’t let them.”</p><p class="p1">“You can’t stop them!”</p><p class="p1">“I told you, I’ll die before I let them hurt you again. I love you.”</p><p class="p1">She rested her head against his chest again and let him wrap his arms around her, let him comfort her with his warmth and his strength and his hope. The force of his heart, thrumming beneath her cheek, felt like the only true and stable thing in her world.</p><p class="p1">“Alright,” she whispered. “This summer. After graduation.”</p><p class="p1">“This summer,” he agreed.</p><p class="p2"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(written for the Hinny discord Prompt Posse #4: where would you be pleased to find yourself locked up overnight?)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>